Google Cloud is expanding its support to interesting tech-based startups looking to solve some of the world’s most difficult challenges, with the goal of helping them get off the ground, grow and ultimately scale their businesses.

Ryan Kiskis, director of the Startup Ecosystem at Google Cloud, explained in a blog post that the new Google for Startups Cloud Program announced today aims to ensure startups will benefit from a more consistent experience across all of the company’s products, whether they’re using its cloud infrastructure or one or more of its other services. At the same time, it wants to expand startup founders’ access to Google mentors, products, programs and best practices.

In addition, Kiskis said, Google is committed to ensuring that startup founders will be able to access the technology and expertise they need when just starting out. He said this access can have a massive impact on a startup’s growth trajectory if it’s provided in a timely fashion.

“Early-stage startups are particularly well-positioned to move quickly and solve problems, but they need the ability to scale with minimal costs, to pivot to address a new opportunity, and to leverage expertise and resources as they navigate new markets and investors,” he explained.

To that end, Google has announced a series of new cloud credits under the Google for Startups Cloud Program. The company is promising it will cover all of the cloud costs of eligible startups for the first year of their Google Cloud usage, up to a maximum of $100,000.

Kiskis said this will enable many startups to begin building on Google Cloud at zero cost, allowing them to keep their focus on innovating, growing and acquiring customers — and, of course, providing the potential to win Google more cloud customers at an early stage. In the second year of the program, Google said, it will cover 20% of each startup’s cloud costs, providing up to an additional $100,000 in credits.

Kiskis said the offer will make it much easier for startups to access Google’s uniquely powerful artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics capabilities, and to build and scale on its cloud infrastructure.

Google is following a centuries-old strategy of ‘getting them in early’ by offering to cover startup’s first full year of cloud costs and it will be interesting to see how it plays out, Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. told SiliconANGLE. However, Mueller warned this is not only about Google’s largesse, as it’s very likely that whatever startups take advantage of the offer will pick up dependencies on Google Cloud, meaning they will remain as its customers for a lot longer, if not forever.

“In the past cloud credits were little more than ‘play money’ to evaluate those platforms,” Mueller said. “With its new $100,000 limit, Google is raising the game substantially and it will be interesting to see if the usual suspects in the cloud competition will follow suit with their own offers. Even so, it’s an attractive option for startups that are forced to fund their first innovations on a shoestring budget, though they will need to take care that whatever dependencies they pick up do not become a challenge later.”

To sweeten the deal a bit more, Google promised will help startups in other ways by providing greater access to its new Startup Success Team, which is meant to serve as a dedicated point of contact at Google Cloud for all startups within its program.

“Now that this team is fully up and running, we’re expanding it to all qualified, early-stage startups in the Google for Startups Cloud Program,” Kiskis said. “These guides will get to know the unique needs of each startup throughout their two years in the program, and will help connect them with the right Google teams to help resolve any technical, go-to-market, or credit questions along the way.”

Google’s program provides additional resources to startup founders, including benefits around products such as Google Workspace and Google Maps, plus various regular workshops, events and training courses. Founders will also have access to a supportive network of peers through Google Cloud’s new C2C Connect digital community, which is exclusive to founders and chief technology officers building on Google Cloud.

Image: Google